My Desire for History: Essays in Gay, Community, and Labor History - Paperback

by Allan Bérubé (Author), John D'Emilio (Editor), Estelle B. Freedman (Editor)

This anthology pays tribute to Allan Bérubé (1946-2007), a self-taught historian and MacArthur Fellow who was a pioneer in the study of lesbian and gay history in the United States. Best known for his Lambda Literary Award-winning book Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II (1990), Bérubé also wrote extensively on the history of sexual politics in San Francisco and on the relationship between sexuality, class, and race. John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, who were close colleagues and friends of Bérubé, have selected sixteen of his most important essays, including hard-to-access articles and unpublished writing. The book provides a retrospective on Bérubé's life and work while it documents the emergence of a grassroots lesbian and gay community history movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Taken together, the essays attest to the power of history to mobilize individuals and communities to create social change.

Front Jacket

This anthology pays tribute to Allan Berube (1946-2007), a self-taught historian and MacArthur Fellow who was a pioneer in the study of lesbian and gay history in the United States. D'Emilio and Freedman have selected sixteen of his most important essays which provide a retrospective on Berube's life and work while documenting the emergence of a grassroots lesbian and gay community history movement in the 1970s and 1980s.

Author Biography

Allan Bérubé (1946-2007) was an independent scholar and community historian. John D'Emilio is professor of history and of gender and women's studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Estelle B. Freedman is the Edgar E. Robinson Professor in U.S. History at Stanford University.